Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, the second overall pick in June’s draft, has missed 11 straight games with a sprained MCL and is progressing toward a return. Coach Luke Walton said the 20-year-old would try to progress on Wednesday to the ‘full-speed, non-contact’ drills that would signal that he’s ready to return to practice. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

EL SEGUNDO — It’s a make and miss league, right? Well, the first eight games the Lakers played without Lonzo Ball sure made you miss him.

Since then, however, the Lakers have settled into a nice rhythm without their rookie point guard, winning 11 of their past 15 games overall.

The Lakers have been so good, in fact, that there’s a movement to trade the rookie star before Thursday’s noon deadline.

Sort of.

“I was on HoopsHype earlier today,” Kyle Kuzma teased. “There was rumors of him getting traded for a bag of peanuts or something. So that would be a good trade.”

Ball, who spoke to reporters for the first time in more than three weeks, had a more diplomatic take.

“The guys learned how to play without me,” said Ball, who is slowly adding to his workload in hopes of returning to the lineup before the All-Star break.

Ball, the second overall pick in June’s draft, has missed 11 straight games with a sprained MCL and is progressing toward a return. Coach Luke Walton said the 20-year-old would try to progress on Wednesday to the “full-speed, non-contact” drills that would signal that he’s ready to return to practice.

“He will try it,” Walton said. “If it hurts, then we will back him off obviously. There definitely will be no contact. The more we can get him doing, the more he can go game speed with stuff, the better that is.”

Ball said on Wednesday that he has not yet been able to jump or sprint.

“When I can do those things hopefully I can get back on the court,” Ball said.

Whether that will be before All-Star Weekend at Staples Center remains up in the air. Ball is scheduled to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge on Feb. 16, the first night of the weekend’s festivities.

“It would be my first time ever experiencing All-Star,” Ball said. “So definitely I want to do it, but if my body won’t let me, I’ll just (watch).”

The Lakers were hopeful Ball would be able to return for some games on their recent five-game trip. On Jan. 29, an off-day in Toronto, he increased his workload but pulled back when he felt pain in his knee.

“We were on the court,” Ball said, “I was just pushing it, seeing how far I could go. Whatever did happen obviously aggravated it a little bit so we slowed it down.”

He said he and the training staff come to an agreement about when to let off the gas. In the 10 days since, Ball said he has “definitely advanced” past the drills that limited him in Toronto.

“That was the thing,” he said, “we took a little bit off and got right back to it. We’ve been progressing ever since.”

Ball previously missed six games this season due to a sprained shoulder. The Lakers lost all six of those games, and the first two after he sprained his knee on Jan. 13 in Dallas.

Since then, however, the Lakers have won seven of nine games, including three straight after Tuesday’s 112-93 victory over Phoenix.

“Y’all just had to give us some time,” Ball said. “We’re a young team. We all came together for the first time. Now it’s kind of picking up.”

Second-year forward Brandon Ingram has started the last three games at point guard, while rookie guard Josh Hart has moved into the starting lineup and posted three straight double-doubles.

“They know what works,” Ball said. “Pace and defense. We’ve been doing that and that’s why they’ve been winning. As long as everybody plays together, we just stay in the locker room and don’t worry about all the trading and stuff that’s been going on, we should be OK.”

Bill Oram covers the Los Angeles Lakers for the Southern California News Group. He covered the Utah Jazz for the Salt Lake Tribune. He is the (usually) bearded guy in the background wearing a University of Montana hat.

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